Time Bomb
by WOWZAcoolBEANS
Summary: A few months after the curse was broken the Zodiac members were left to pick up the pieces of their lives, and when it was all over, they felt things were changing. Love can be a strange thing. KxT, YxT, HxY, HxR among others.
1. A Day In Hell

**Story Title:** Time Bomb

**Story Synopsis:** A few months after graduation things start to go downhill for some of the former Zodiac members. Hatsuharu reveals his true feelings to Rin… about someone else. Yuki realizes that he was truly in love with Tohru all along, and Kyo and Tohru's relationship seems to be rocky. When Akito decides to get involved it seems that the Zodiac members lives are changing once again… and this time for the worse. Kyo/Tohru, Yuki/Tohru, Yuki/Akito, Yuki/Hatsuharu, Hatsuharu/Rin.

**Rating: **T (there will be violence and some romance, no lemon or limes though).

**A/N**: So, this is my first Fruits Basket fic. It'll be pretty long, I haven't written it fully yet, but I know it'll be going for quite some time. Just so you guys know, I am a student, and I have lots of school obligations, so I can't promise a specific amount of time between each chapter. Sometimes a couple days, sometimes a week or two. I have a life. :P But this fic will be pretty dark, just so you know, but mostly it'll be fluff. All angsty love and such. And Akito's character will be more like his original mind raping self. Oh! By the way, you probably don't want to read this if you haven't read or familiarized yourself with the manga, because it'll be pretty confusing for you. Sorry to be so formal here, but sit back, relax, and enjoy "Time Bomb".

**Chapter Title**: A Day in Hell

**Chapter Description:** A flash forward to Akito and Yuki talking, then Rin and Hatsuharu have a heart-to-heart in the late hours and Kyo and Tohru visit Yuki for the day and receive and unexpected guest.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fruits Basket. If I did Kureno would have been a much bigger character.

**oOo**

"Yuki. I could have never forgotten about you." Akito said as her fingers lazily slid down Yuki's arm making him shiver. "But Yuki, did you ever forget about me?" She asked as she moved her arm off of him and looked the boy in the eyes. Yuki turned away shyly.

"Not for one moment." He responded.

**Three Weeks Ago**

**oOo**

Hatsuharu slid out of bed silently, his feet not making a sound as they impacted with the wooden floor beneath them. Rin stared as he walked away, not knowing why. It had been like that the past few nights, they would fall asleep together, but in the middle of the night he would walk away silently, only to return to their bed just before their alarms went off in the morning.

As soon as Haru left the room that they shared in Shigure's old residence Rin lifted the covers and got out of bed to follow the man who she loved. She walked as quietly as she could, trying not to make a sound as she opened the door to the room, finding that Haru was already on the outside of it waiting for her.

"I knew you were awake." He said without an expression. Rin tried to smile, but found that the muscles in her mouth would not work. She could sense that there was something wrong. Haru began to walk away and Rin followed him into the main room. They both awkwardly hovered for a moment, then Rin sat on a nearby chair and moved her legs up onto it. She watched Haru with worried eyes. He didn't seem to be Black, but he didn't seem to be his usual White self either.

"Why haven't you been sleeping?" She asked and his gaze moved from the wall to her face. A small smile lit it up momentarily, but then he was back to his usual look of pensiveness.

Then, with his next words, Rin's nightmares were all realized. "I've been sleeping, just not here." Rin's heart stopped beating momentarily, and she felt as if she were out of breath. The worst images she could imagine came up into her mind. Haru with other women in cheap motels, laughing at the fact that Rin was sleeping alone… She felt sick to her stomach, and she felt as if she were going to pass out. "I've been going to the dojo or Yuki's place mostly. I have trouble sleeping in this house." He said looking down.

A smile crept across Rin's face and she let out a small laugh. "What?" Haru asked her with a confused look. She looked up at him with a pleasant face.

"For a moment I thought that you were cheating on me, not just being an insomniac." She smiled again, but it soon faded as she looked at the expression on Haru's face. "Were you…?" She began to ask but was interrupted by Haru.

"No, but I can't pretend that everything is all right anymore." Rin looked up at the man who had been her pillar for all of those years, the one who she had trusted unconditionally and though she had tried to push him away, the one who she loved with all of her heart and soul. What could possibly not be right? They were finally together. The curse was finally lifted. They could now live out the rest of their lives as regular, normal humans. This was what they had always wanted. What could have possibly gone wrong?

The words were heavy on her tongue, not wanting to leave her lips. "What's not right anymore?" She said, unable to tear her eyes away from his beautiful face.

Haru moved around a bit, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I love you Rin. I always will." He said, but Rin knew what was happening. "But I have feelings for someone else, and those feelings are strong and they have been for years." He said. Tears were now streaming down her face.

"Who?" She asked simply, feeling yet again as if she were the helpless child who was beaten and abused by those that she loved. She felt like how she had before Haru was part of her life.

"Yuki." He said simply, and Rin's world shattered.

**oOo**

It was the day of the month that Yuki absolutely dreaded. It was the day of the month that seemed to last for hundreds of hours and never seemed to end. It was the day of the month that was Yuki's absolute, living hell.

It's the day that Kyo and Tohru came to rub their relationship in his face. Or came to visit. To Yuki, they were complete synonyms. Once a month (or more, depending on the circumstances and holidays that occurred) Kyo and Tohru would come visit Yuki at his apartment. It was both Yuki's greatest joy and his worst nightmare.

Seeing Tohru was the joy. That girl always found a way to bring a light into Yuki's life that; since they had parted, he missed dearly. He had thought of her as a mother, but with her presences becoming more and more varied and infrequent, he had realized something.

He loved her.

He loved her as more than a mother figure. He loved her as a woman.

He loved her with all of his heart and soul, and the thought of her being with that… that… _cat_ made him sick. Being without her was like breathing without air. Useless. The worst part of it was seeing them together on days like this. Seeing them touch and hug each other. Seeing them hold hands and laugh. Seeing how damn _happy_ they were. That's what made these days miserable for him.

He would do anything for Tohru, including letting her go and be happy, but that was what brought him the most pain imaginable.

There was a knock at his apartment door, and he sighed. This would be a long day.

"Coming." He said as he got up from the couch and stowed the book he was reading on a table. The key that Machi had left when the two of them ended their relationship last week was sitting in front of him. Not wanting the two of them to know that he was no longer with the quiet girl, he put it in his pocket.

The knocking at the door became louder and more irritated sounding. "I'm coming!" Yuki said a bit irritably. He took a deep breath. The last thing he needed was to get into a fight with Kyo and ending up having to buy a new door. Yuki was busy and barely had the time to clothes shop, let alone door shop. He really didn't know how Shigure found the time to replace all of the furnishings that he and Kyo had destroyed over the years.

He finally got to the door, and upon opening it he found Tohru's smiling face along with Kyo's irritated one. Their relationship should have sunk in by now, and the fact that they were always together should not seem unusual, but it still always shocked Yuki. For all those years he had thought that it would be him who ended up with Torhu, and the fact that they were not together was still shocking.

"Welcome." Yuki said with a smile at Tohru. "Please come in."

"Took you long enough." Kyo said as he pushed past Yuki and entered the room.

"Hello Yuki." Tohru said with a beaming smile that made Yuki feel slightly sick to his stomach with grief. "I made you some food. You always write about how much you miss my cooking, so I froze some meals for you to heat up after classes." She said as she handed Yuki a huge bag full of frozen meals.

"Really Miss Honda, you didn't have to do that. To think you went to so much trouble…" He trailed off just looking at Tohru. She was beaming.

"Really, it was no problem. It was nice to be able to cook with leeks again. I just can't get Kyo to like them, no matter what I try." Kyo, who was flipping through a book that Yuki had left out, slammed it down.

"I can't help it that I hate those nasty things!" He said as he stomped off, most likely to the bathroom.

Yuki stared at the direction that Kyo went for a moment, fearing for his possessions, but there was something he needed to talk to Tohru about. "He's been worse lately, hasn't he?" He asked as he turned towards his secret love. "The last few times I've seen him, he's been…"

"Yes, he has." Tohru said, her eyes shifting from Yuki to the floor. "I don't know what's been going on with him lately. It must be something that I've…" She began, but Yuki interrupted her.

"It can't be you Tohru. Don't ever let yourself think that." He interjected. Even if Kyo was unhappy because of Tohru, he could never let her believe that. She was too sweet, too kind, and too wonderful to believe that anything was her fault. "You're the best thing that ever happened to him." Yuki felt the urge to embrace the girl standing next to him, but he restrained himself. If Kyo were to come out and find them holding each other then the resulting argument would not only destroy Tohru emotionally, but also destroy his apartment.

An awkward silence formed, but after a moment Tohru spoke, back to her usual happy-go-lucky personality. "Here, I'll go put those in your freezer for you." She said as she took the bag of food away from Yuki. "I don't want it to thaw and go bad."

"Okay." Yuki replied with a smile that he found could only come onto his features when Tohru was in his vicinity. Nothing, and no one, in the world made him happier than Tohru.

"How's Machi?" Tohru inquired as they walked to the far corner of the room where Yuki's freezer was located. He flinched a bit internally. He had told no one but Kakeru about the end of their relationship, and the only reason he had told him was because he needed someone to make sure that Machi was doing okay. He may not have been in love with the girl, but he still cared about her and when they broke-up, he was terrified that she wouldn't be okay, and that she would do something to herself.

"She's fine." He said, repeating the words that Kakeru said to him the last time he called the day before.

"It's a shame she couldn't make it." Tohru said as she began to stack the plastic containers of food in the cramped freezer, clearing out old things as she did. "I wanted to ask her to see a Mogeta movie with Kisa and I. I really think that she and Kisa would get along very well." She said with a little laugh. Yuki didn't want to tell Tohru that he and Machi had split-up. In all honesty, he knew that it would hurt Tohru to hear that he had broken the girl's heart. She felt more for others than she did for herself.

"Yes, I think that the two of them could find a lot in…" A pounding at the door of his apartment stopped him in mid-sentence.

"Did you invite someone else?" Tohru asked with an excited smile. "Is it Kakeru? Oh, I haven't seen him in forever. It'll be wonderful to get the chance to catch up with him!"

"No, I didn't invite someone else…" Yuki said a bit suspiciously as he made his way over to the door. "Chances are its Hatsuharu though. He's been hanging out here a lot lately…" He said as he opened the door.

"I'm going to kill you." Rin said as she stormed into the apartment, pulled Yuki away from the door by the collar and pinned him to the ground. "I'm going to make you wish that you had never been born."


	2. Smiles

**Chapter Title:** Smiles

**Chapter Description:** A person comes and stops Rin from killing Yuki and after a conversation with Kyo, Yuki realizes that perhaps his chance with the woman he loves is gone. Shigure helps Rin see that maybe her life isn't over and Yuki gets a life changing call from Tohru.

**A/N: **Wow. I pumped out this chapter quickly. Don't get used to it. I kind of feel like the story is moving too quickly though… what do you guys think about that? Should I take it slower? I think I should take it slower… but I wasn't about to go change this entire chapter after I re-read it and thought too much was going on. I'm sort of lazy like that. Well, enjoy reading that, and please review. Nothing makes me happier than a good, old-fashioned review. Actually, I tend to give people who review virtual cookies. And who doesn't love cookies? Especially of the virtual variety.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fruits Basket, because if I did then I would have made the thought of Shigure and Akito together somewhat believable.

**oOo**

"Rin!" Tohru yelled as she ran over to where the horse had Yuki pinned. "What's going on?!" She yelled from a safe distance. Having been involved with the Sohmas for so long she finally realized when to not get involved in a fight between two family members.

"He. Ruined. My. LIFE!" She yelled as she hit Yuki across the face repeatedly.

"It's not his fault." A monotone voice said from the doorway. All eyes went over to Hatsuharu, who had entered the room unnoticed. "Stop taking it out on him."

"I'll take it out on whoever I want to!" Rin yelled as she got up and jabbed Yuki in the side with her foot. Yuki, who had been taken completely by surprise, grunted with pain. Tohru ran to his side and embraced him.

"Are you okay?" She whispered into his ear as Rin and Haru stared each other down. Yuki nodded his head, praying that Tohru wouldn't let go of him.

There was a crashing noise and Tohru let go of Yuki. Their attention turned to Rin, who had thrown a nearby pot at Haru. She missed, and its shattered pieces were sprayed across the floor.

"How could you?" Rin screamed at Haru, before dissolving into tears and falling to her knees. "How… could… you?" She asked again as Haru took her in his arms and carried her over to the couch.

"Go to sleep." He ordered her, which only caused Rin to sob harder. Though he didn't want to, Yuki got up and walked over to Hatsuharu, who was walking away from Rin.

Haru looked tired. There were bags under his eyes. His usual demeanor was gone. He looked somewhat like a zombie when he walked, something had happened that had really shattered Rin, and from the looks of Haru, it had hit him pretty badly as well.

"What's going on?" Yuki asked his cousin with great concern. Even though the curse had been broken, he still felt close to the people who had once been part of the Zodiac with him. Especially Haru. He and Hatsuharu had a long history, and Yuki considered him to be one of his close friends. "Why is Rin sobbing? And why does she blame me?"

"We split up." Hatsuharu said, shocking Yuki and Tohru. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave. Shigure will be here in about five minutes to pick up Rin. Just let her cry it out until then." And then he left.

Yuki and Tohru were dumbstruck.

"But I thought…" Tohru began saying, then stopped.

"What?" Yuki asked her curiously. "Finish your thought."

"Well, I was under the impression that Hatsuharu was kind. But leaving Rin like that…" Tohru stopped, seeing that Yuki was staring at her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

Yuki mentally slapped himself for making her feel embarrassed. That was definitely not his intent. If only she knew that he stared at her for her beauty and her charm…

"No, no." Yuki said, attempting to force a smile on his face. "Don't worry. I think that he might have gone Black or something; I'll call him later and find out what really happened. This is very out of character for Haru. You try to comfort Rin. I'll go get Kyo from wherever he is." Yuki said as he left the room.

Tohru quietly walked over to Rin, who had stopped sobbing. She was curled up in a little ball on Yuki's couch; tears were still streaming down her cheeks. "What happened?" Tohru asked Rin as she kneeled down next to the couch.

"He… he doesn't love. All… all of that and… and he doesn't love me." She said shaking. "He told me… he told me this last night. I tried so hard to ignore it. But… but I had to come over."

"Why?" Tohru asked the girl who had formerly been the horse.

Rin stretched out her body and stood up, looking tall and regal. Her hair had begun to grow back, and it swayed along with her movements. "Because it's Yuki's fault that Haru is in love with him."

**oOo**

"Why are you lying there in _my_ room? You've missed quite a bit." Yuki said as he entered his sleeping quarters. "Miss Honda seems a bit shaken. Shouldn't you care about that a bit?" He asked, then added with a bit of a bitter tone, "Or have you become bored with her already?"

Usually Yuki would have expected a snappy comeback, or even the beginning of a fight but Kyo did nothing. He was lying on Yuki's bed, arms under his head, staring at the ceiling. He seemed serene and contemplative. He seemed to be exactly the opposite of what Kyo usually was.

"No reaction? At all? That's very odd. Are you sick or something?" Yuki said as he sat on the opposite edge of the bed. Kyo made no movements, he did nothing to even acknowledge Yuki's presence. "It's a bit out of his way, but I think Hatori would come over here if we needed him to."

"Don't call Hatori." Kyo said. For some reason Yuki was almost relieved when his relative said something. He wasn't worried for Kyo, but for what Tohru would have to go through if something _happened_ to Kyo. She'd be crushed. It was almost sickening how much she loved and cared for the stupid cat. "I'm not sick."

"Then why are you sitting in here moping?" Yuki asked, hoping that the answer would be something that would hurt Tohru.

"I…" Kyo began, but stopped and sighed. Yuki had to restrain himself from laughing. He never thought that Kyo was even capable of thought, let alone the deep thought that he seemed to be in. "I love Tohru." He finally said. Yuki turned his head and stared at him for a moment. Kyo moved his arm and grabbed something out of one of the baggy pockets of his cargo pants. He threw it over to Yuki. Yuki caught it, but just barely. As soon as he saw what it was, his throat filled with bile.

"It's…" He began but couldn't get the words out.

"A ring." Kyo said, his eyes closing. "I want to ask Tohru to marry me." Yuki opened his mouth to respond, to give him his congratulations, but nothing came out. "I know it's soon, and that we're both young, but I love her. I don't want to ever be with anyone else. It's kind of crazy, and it's happening really fast but… I just want to let Tohru know that I mean all of this. That she's my entire world now, and I never want to let her go."

Yuki managed to say something. "When?"

"I don't know. Soon. I just need to find the right moment. I want to get married next month, hopefully. I want us to be married by new years." Kyo said with a happy sigh.

"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Yuki asked, somewhat surprised. "You really do love her." He said, not really believing it. No, he believed it. He was trying to convince himself that he didn't. If he didn't believe that Kyo really loved Tohru then it made himself feel better about loving her himself.

Kyo got up and looked Yuki in the eyes. "I have never been more serious about anything in my entire life. I love Tohru…" He said trailing off into thought. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, then Kyo reverted back to his normal self. "What are you doing sitting around, you damn rat? What in hell was going on when I was sitting in here?" He asked.

"Well, apparently Hatsuharu and in split up. Rin came in, tried to kill me, then Haru came and she settled down. Shigure should be here any minute to take her home." Kyo stared at Yuki blankly.

"Then what was the huge crash?" He asked.

"She threw a pot at Haru." Yuki explained. "And she missed."

Suddenly the door to the room opened, letting in a beam of light. Yuki hadn't even noticed how dark the room really was until Shigure opened the door and let the sunshine in.

"Oh! My dear, former boarders bonding together in a dark room! You little lovebirds are just so darn cute! But I wonder what Tohru'll think when she sees her little love muffin with another man…" Before Shigure could say anything else Kyo's foot had already collided with his face.

"Shut up." Kyo said as he left the room.

"What did I ever do to him?" Shigure said with a pout.

"Don't play innocent Shigure. You're picking Rin up, right?" Yuki said. It was odd that Hatsuharu had chosen Shigure to pick up Rin. He knew that Shigure liked Rin alright, but he never thought that they were all that close.

Shigure smiled as if he knew some deep dark secret, but Yuki knew that he was probably just playing around. "Yes, I am here for a job. And I must perform that duty!" With another smile, he was off. Yuki shook his head and got up off of the bed. He just needed to focus on getting through the day. Once this was over he could just order a pizza, do his homework and go to sleep.

**oOo**

"So what's the story morning glory?" Shigure asked Rin once they had been on the road and driving for a few minutes. "Why the long face?"

"Please Shigure, not today." She replied, annoyed. Rin was fond of Shigure, and she always had been, but with all the stuff she had going on right now, the last thing she needed was Shigure to attempt to seduce her. Again.

Shigure frowned. _That girl just can't tell that we all actually care about her._ He thought to himself. "Well, if you need anything you can always come to me. You know that." He said honestly.

"Oh really?" Rin spat. "Aren't you the one who's with Akito now? Aren't you the one who's screwing the person who tried to kill me?" She yelled. Shigure silently pulled over to the side of the road. "What are you doing?" She said angrily before Shigure grabbed her face between his hands.

"Whatever happened with you and Akito, whatever happened with Hatsuharu, whatever happened with _anyone_ in the Zodiac. It's all in the past. Understand that." Rin pulled away from Shigure's hands and turned to face the window.

Rin thought about his words. But how could she? How could she forget how Akito had tried to kill her multiple times? How could she forget about Haru's kindness? Even his name made her feel sick to her stomach. _How can I forget?_ She thought. _How can I forget how in love with him I am?_

Shigure sighed and shook his head. "People love you. You just haven't realized it yet. Yeah, maybe Haru doesn't love you like that, but he's not the only cow in the sea." A small laugh escaped Rin's lips, and Shigure knew that she had heard what he had said. He got back onto the road and continued to drive.

**oOo**

"Well thanks for having us over." Tohru said with a huge smile. "I put the instructions for the food on the kitchen table. Don't lose them!"

"I won't." Yuki said smiling. He had to cherish this moment. This would be the last time he'd really smile until the next month when Tohru would visit. _And maybe then she'll be a married woman._ He thought to himself.

It was the first time it really clicked.

Tohru might be _married_. She might be married to _Kyo_. Not to him. And if they did get married, that would mean that he would have to move on. He would need to find someone else. But he knew there would be no one else. There'd never be anyone else.

"Yuki, are you feeling okay?" Tohru's voice ripped Yuki out of his thoughts. Her sweet smile brought him back to earth and Kyo's glare made him come back to reality.

"Oh yes, of course. I was just thinking about all of the things that I need to do tonight." He said trying to think of the first lie that came to mind.

Kyo continued to glare at Yuki, but spoke civilly. "Then we should go and leave you to whatever you do. We'll see you soon." The way that Kyo said 'we' as if he was speaking for Tohru made Yuki sick. And the fact that Tohru was nodding her head and going along with it made him even sicker.

"Keep in touch." Tohru said happily as she grabbed Kyo's hand. "We'll get together soon, I promise." She said as the two of them left Yuki's apartment.

Yuki watched them exit and sat on the couch, head in his hands. How could he have ever let her slip away? How could he have ever…

"I thought they'd never leave." He heard a voice say from the doorway. Hatsuharu was standing there again, and again, he was unannounced and uninvited.

"What do you want?" Yuki said exasperated. Couldn't Haru see that he was upset?

Haru came over and took off his jacket. He was still wearing the same coat that he had worn the first time that Tohru had met him. White and ornate with a fur collar. It was completely over the top, just like Haru, to an extent. Always trying to break the rules and push the boundaries. He sat down next to Yuki and he noticed again how tired he looked. He had been over a few times because he couldn't sleep, but it had been a while since he had come. It looked like he hadn't slept since.

"I guess I owe you an apology." Haru said as he looked over at Yuki. "I'll pay for that pot." He added.

"The pot doesn't matter." Yuki said truthfully. It had been a housewarming gift from Kakeru that he absolutely hated, but put up anyway because he cared about his friend. "What matters is what you did to Rin. What happened?" Haru leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.

"I split up with her. That's it." He said, but Yuki wasn't quite sure that was the whole truth.

"Then why did she come here with the intent to kill me?" Yuki asked Haru, challenging him to _not _tell him the truth.

"I have no idea." Haru replied, looking Yuki square in the eye. Yuki sighed, and stretched. "So why were you so upset when I walked in? Did Kyo do something?" Haru asked. He had always known what Yuki was feeling, no matter what the circumstance. It was almost like Haru was physic when it came to Yuki.

"No… yes… I don't know." Yuki said with a sigh.

"When you do, tell me, but until then, I'm going to sleep. I really doubt Rin is going to want me in the house tonight." With a quick wave he walked into Yuki's bedroom and closed the door. Before he could even think Yuki's cell phone rang. Unwillingly, he picked it up.

"Yuki! Yuki!" Tohru's voice rang out. "Yuki! I have the most amazing news!"

"What is it?" He asked with a smile. He could only imagine what had happened. Maybe she saw a cute dog, or the perfect flower. She tended to do this a lot, call him for some strange, small reason.

"Kyo just proposed to me!"

Yuki's smile died.


End file.
